Why does that QR Code go to justinsomnia.org?

Back in 2007 I stumbled something called a QR Code. It was a neat two-dimensional barcode that encodes textual information visually—with URLs being a promising application for the emerging smartphone market (thanks to the release of the iPhone that year). So I did what any self-respecting personal blogger would do: I QR-encoded my own URL. And posted it to my blog.

At some point between then and now, my QR code image got lodged in the second position of Google Images’ search results for “qr code”. As a result, it became one of the most requested pages on my site, regularly clocking in several hundred requests a day. But what happened next defies rationale explanation.

My QR Code started showing up in all sorts of unexpected places. It seems that marketing people who needed a QR Code would search for one, find mine aesthetically pleasing (well, the #1 result above contains the BBC logo, so that won’t do) and slap it on whatever mockup needed it. And because it’s impossible to “proofread” a QR Code without a specialized QR Reader, a few instances of my QR Code ended up on finished products, thus becoming a sort of accidental 21st century ETAOIN SHRDLU.

A few days ago another “outbreak” was brought to my attention. Apparently my QR Code ended up on a job recruitment flier that got sent to some students in Belgium. An actual printed flier. But here’s the kicker: the account manager from the ad agency emailed me and asked if I wouldn’t mind redirecting all Belgium traffic coming to my homepage over to their landing page for the next three weeks. Can you imagine? Well, it just so happens that I built an adserver that did geotargeting, so yeah, I can do that. For a price. In the end it turns out my price was too high. Oh well, I tried.

The flier says: “Scan the QR Code using a QR Reader on your smartphone and find out what Company X has to offer.” Oops!

Update, March 28, 2011: Surprisingly, sometime between March 25th and 26th, requests for my QR Code post dropped from 800/day to 40-50. I checked the “qr code” results in Google Images and discovered that my QR Code was now the #1 result—but it was a copy of my image posted on Adrants.com.

That’s a pretty significant loss of several hundred quasi-pageviews a day, but the image itself is already so pervasive, it probably does not mean the end of “Justinsomnia Syndrome”. In fact a few days ago I received the following email:

I would like to ask on behalf of a client of ours if it is possible to by [sic] the QR-Code you are using for your website for exclusive usage from now until the 31st of July 2011?

What does that mean? I’m guessing they think I can somehow magically cause that QR Code (which they accidentally used in something printed?) to redirect to another URL. I don’t think they understand that the QR Code IS the URL. In any case, I’ve yet to hear back.

As an aside: at least I don’t have to complain to anyone about not abiding by my Creative Commons By-Attribution license with a link back to my site—because the image itself is a link back to my site, muah ha ha ha! Come to think of it, a QR Code would make a great watermark.

Want to read even more? Check out my article, Code Confusion, published by Fabrikzeitung, a monthly magazine in Zurich.

jackie, you should have seen how many Google searches it took for me to pull that out of the deeper recesses of the internet (and my mind by extension).

Originally I had written “lorem ipsum” which though not incorrect, does not convey the analogous intention (or lack thereof). According to my Google Web History, I tried 10 different search strings (over 6 minutes!), all of which failed to bring back “ETAOIN SHRDLU” in the results. A single Google search session rarely lasts that long.

newspaper qwerty

newspaper accidental printed string

printing press first row characters

DHIATENSOR

accidental string in printed newspaper

accidental text in printed newspaper

accidental text in printing press

test text in printing press

accidental sample text printing press

lorem ipsum

Given my repeated failed attempts to pull it back the answer I was looking for, I buckled down and decided to skim the lorem ipsum Wikipedia article for clues, and wouldn’t you believe it, ETAOIN SHRDLU was right there under “See Also”.

So we are doing a project for a marketing class at Florida Atlantic University for a local restaurant and we are suggesting the use of a QR Code. We did exactly what you described. Googled for a QR code and stuck it on our PowerPoint. We are presenting Monday and I decided to scan it to see where it took me in case it was not suitable for a school project and found this page. Just thought I would share how I found the site!

While in line for security at Orlando International Airport (MCO) on July 16, 2011, I spotted a TSA poster on the poles in line announcing a new program that allows kids under 12 to keep their shoes on. It stated next to the QR code on the poster for parents to get more information by scanning the code.

Guess where the code brings you? That’s right. Here! After reading how this happens, I had a bit of a laugh that a “big government agency” didn’t bother to check the QR code in their own poster.

It’s sort of tempting to respond to people that for a fee they can buy the right to the image for that time. LEt them do that, and then wait for the to come back and ask if you can redirect, and you can say yes… for a much higher fee.

That’s hilarious man! So funny that someone
would just take the image of your from google and advertise it? Who does that? I could understand a little kid doing a report, but a company or organization? wow. I like Bob’s idea for maximum gains! haha

If you ever want a truly “unique” qr code, give me a shout. I just started a brand new business. I’ll send you a coupon code for a discount if you message @brandedqrs on twitter. Great blog. Good luck!

mikko, I’ll do it for a price, but it comes at a cost for my readers, since there’s no way I can determine whether someone scanned a QR Code with a mobile device, or whether they were checking out my homepage on a mobile device.